``I can get used to this,'' the Auburn coach said smiling, pulling on the basketball net that she wore as a necklace, the spoils of winning the Southeastern Conference championship outright Sunday on the final day of the regular season.

Auburn got to cut down the nets for the first time in 20 years by winning in a most convincing way, crushing Arkansas 94-57 on Senior Day in front of 5,616 fans in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

The Tigers celebrated all the way, and especially the four seniors who laid the foundation for the title a long time ago. With the game winding down, Fortner put the seniors back in as a team, and then took to them out one by one to standing ovations.

Todd Van Emst/Auburn

The Tigers are a happy lot after rolling Toomer's Corner

``They are the ones that got this program where it is. I wanted them to be able to soak it up and enjoy it all they could,'' Fortner said.

That's how the game story begins in Monday's Birmingham News. Here's the rest:

The seniors all had nice games, led by former Fairfield High standout DeWanna Bonner, who scored 25 points and grabbed her 1,000th career rebound, which fits nicely with her 2,000 career points.

The win meant the Tigers, who guaranteed themselves no worse than a tie for the conference championship last week, didn't have to share the title with anyone. Auburn finished the regular season at 27-2 and 12-2 in the SEC, and won the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in this week's SEC Tournament. The Tigers will begin play at noon Friday against the winner of Thursday's Arkansas-Ole Miss game.

Auburn set a school record with its 12 SEC wins and the 27 overall victories are the fifth most in school history. The Tigers also sent a message to the rest of this league that it is still serious. The Tigers turned in a 54-point, no-turnover first half Sunday to turn a basketball game into a no-doubter while snapping the Razorbacks' five-game winning streak.

``I think everybody's Adrenaline just kind of carried them through the day,'' Bonner said. ``Everybody wanted to do their best. I think that showed up.''

But to turn that Adrenaline into near-flawless first half?

``I don't know. I can't explain,'' Fortner said. ``When you don't turn the ball over, you have an opportunity to score that many points.''

The seniors did their usual thing: Bonner had 25 points and seven rebounds, Sherell Hobbs had 18 points, Trevesha Jackson had seven points and 11 rebounds and Whitney Boddie had 10 points and eight assists in running that 54-point, first-half offense.

Fortner knows about winning - and wearing the net. She was the Olympic coach for the United States' gold-medal team in 2000. She also won a Big Ten title at Purdue in 1997 by beating Illinois, but didn't get to cut down the nets on the Illini home court.

Auburn knew what to do about that in Auburn. The ladders were ready, balloons dropped from the rafters and an elaborate Senior Day show was held after the game.

The Tigers will be looking for more nets to cut down in the coming weeks.

``It puts us in a good position because we're the No. 1 seed outright,'' Boddie said. ``It's going to be competitive no matter who we play, but we're not really worried about the competition. We're just trying to take care of business. We have bigger things to come. This is good for right now -- today we're going to celebrate and do it big -- but after that, it's over. We've got bigger things ahead of us.''